Finding the Fire Dragon
by abbyb808
Summary: This is my first fanfiction, I posted it before but the formatting was messed up. So... I figured it out and ta dah!
1. Chapter 1

Author's note:

Well, the formatting has been giving me some trouble, but I've finally figured it out. Therefore, I have had to repost this, so please read it again if you already have, and if you haven't… READ!

Lucy tossed and turned in her sleep while the terrifying nightmare invaded her mind. She dreamed of the red dragon, it was chasing her, roaring something she couldn't quite make out... The awful nightmare streamed through her head and she screamed in her sleep, jolting her awake in a cold sweat. Lucy's eyes scanned the room for dragons, but, finding none, realized that it had all been just a dream.

"Phew," she sighed as she turned her lamp on and took a sip of the water next to her bed. Lucy had been having this dream for the past week and she didn't know what to do. She looked over at her alarm clock which stated the time was 5:15 am.

"No!" cried Lucy, "I am not going back to sleep! I don't want to have that awful dream again." Determinedly, Lucy got up and walked over to her desk where a half-finished novel lay, just begging to be written. She sat down in her chair and began writing. It was only 15 minutes later, however, that she succumbed to tiredness and the dream began again.

3 hours later at 8:15 am Lucy awoke to find Natsu's face right in front of her, grinning like a maniac.

"GAH! NATSU!" she shrieked and shoved him away from her, "WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT COMING INTO MY APARTMENT WITHOUT MY PERMISSION! GET OUT BEFORE I LUCY KICK THE SENSE OUT OF YOU!"

"Bu-bu-but Lucy, we found an amazing new mission for us-" Natsu backed away as Lucy's face turned bright red with anger, clutching Happy who had just flown in and jumping out of the window. As he left, gibbering idiotically, Lucy rushed over and leaned out of the window shaking her fist and shouting. As he left her line of vision, Lucy retreated into her apartment and decided to have a shower to calm down before she went to Fairy Tail.

_Doesn't Natsu have any sense of respect? I could sleep naked for all he knew!_ thought Lucy angrily as she climbed into the shower and began washing her platinum blonde hair.

After the shower, Lucy got dressed and headed to the guild. As she arrived, Natsu burst through the door backwards. Jumping back, Lucy saw Erza striding towards Natsu in full armour, shouting about privacy and respect for others. Lucy giggled to herself, she guessed that Natsu had told Erza about the morning's incident.

"Hi Erza," said Lucy as Erza strode past, fuming at Natsu. She laughed and walked into the guild, only to see the entire body of guild members gathered around the request board, murmuring.

"Hey guys! Why are you all next to the request board?" called Lucy as she walked towards them. Mirajane was the only one who responded.

"Lucy, an incredible job has been put on today and Natsu... well, Natsu is very excited about it. Come and see!" she said, beckoning Lucy over. Lucy pushed through the crowd of Fairy Tail members until she could see what all the fuss was about. In the centre of the request board, some bright red paper was pinned up. It proclaimed:

WANTED

A TEAM OF ABLE MAGES TO DEFEAT A FIRE DRAGON WHO CALLS ITSELF IGNEEL

REWARD: 4000000J


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note:

Second chapter! (oh by the way all characters in this story belong to Hiro Mashima)

Lucy gasped and backed away from the requests board as the enormity of what the job implicated set in. Natsu could possibly find Igneel, his adoptive dragon father who taught him his Fire Dragon-Slaying magic. Lucy ran outside to let Natsu know she was ready to go now, whenever, she was so passionate about helping her friends. As she went into the sunlight again, she saw Erza standing over Natsu with one foot on his chest, still shouting about the morning's incident.

"DAMN IT NATSU!" she could be heard shouting as Lucy made her way over.

"Erza! Erza, it's okay, I know what he was so excited about now. Natsu finally has a chance to find his father, Igneel!" said Lucy as she reached the pair of mages. Erza glared at Natsu and stepped off his chest, allowing him to breathe properly again.

"Ugh, thanks Lucy," muttered Natsu as he got up. Grumbling, he made his way back to the guild with Lucy and Erza hot on his heels. Once they were inside, Natsu sat down and began stuffing his face with food to regain his energy before the journey to the village. Lucy had already eaten, so she called out Cancer the Crab to give her a new hair cut, it was getting rather long.

However, soon after Natsu got over being crushed by Erza yet again, he sped over to Lucy and (with a gleam in his eye) proclaimed that they were setting off for the village. Cancer had just finished cutting her hair, so Lucy sprang to her feet and ran home to pack for the long trip. While she packed, Natsu gathered Erza, Gray and Happy to him and told them about the mission to find Igneel. Jumping up and down, barely able to contain his excitement, Natsu basically begged them to come.

"Hmm… Okay." said Erza, rolling her eyes.

"Fine. Just as long as I don't have to sit next to you in the cart, flameboy." grumbled Gray reluctantly.

"What did you call me, exhibitionist?" snarled Natsu, a fiery aura surrounding him as he faced of with Gray, who suddenly grew an equally scary icy aura.

"I CALLED YOU FLAMEBOY, FLAMEBOY!" yelled Gray and the pair began fighting. Just then, Lucy walked in to see Natsu and Gray furiously grappling with each other as Erza yelled at them. Lucy facepalmed and walked over, ready to intervene. Before she could, Erza cut in (literally, with a sword that she had just ex-quipped) and they stopped fighting. Under Erza's terrifying glare, the two boys weakened and began making excuses.

"We were just play fighting!" (Gray)

"Aye!" (Natsu)

"We didn't mean it!"

"Aye!" Whenever Erza caught them fighting, Natsu turned into Happy and Gray lost his pride.

"Good," said Erza, still not looking convinced, "It's nice to know you are such good friends. Now! Let's go before it gets dark - we'll be travelling overnight anyway." The boys trailed Erza meekly out and Lucy followed, tugging her backpack on. Happy flew out of a corner where he had been talking to Wendy's cat Charle and came too. They arrived at the horse and cart station and clambered in. Erza called to the driver to say they were ready and the driver set off towards the small village which Igneel ws supposedly terrifying.

Halfway through the journey, Natsu's motion sickness overcame him and he vomited out of the window after having been crumpled in a corner for 2 hours.

"Bleugh… I don't feel good…" moaned the pink-haired fire mage as he leaned out of the window. Erza heard him and gestured for him to swap places with Gray and sit next to her. Natsu shakily stood up and shuffled past Gray to sit next to Erza. As soon as he sat down, Erza swung a punch upward to his jaw and knocked him out. Happy, who had been silently eating a fish up until now, cried out and flew over to his best friend to check if he was okay.

"He'll be fine," said Erza not very reassuringly. Lucy shifted uncomfortably in her seat and tried to get to sleep… Soon they would find Igneel! (hopefully)


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note:

So, chapter 3 already! Thanks to Poppyflower Of Stormclan for reviewing :) …Here we go again!

The cart rolled to a stop as it arrived at the small, dragon-ridden village of Tarranth. Lucy groaned as she was shaken awake by a re-invigorated Natsu who had sprung back to life after waking up and discovering the cart had stopped.

"Come on Lucy, come on! We don't want to miss Igneel!" he whisper-shouted down her ear. She lightly batted him away and sat up slowly, nudging Gray who was asleep next to her. The sleepy ice mage grunted and turned over in his sleep, despite Lucy's best efforts. Erza then took this opportunity to wake up and hit Gray, jolting him back to reality. Gray gasped and doubled over, Erza had hit him rather too hard.

"Erza! Why…?" he moaned as she stood up with a decisive look on her face. She rolled her eyes and exited the carriage with Lucy. Natsu had already left with Happy, presumably to either get to the nearest food joint or to get to Igneel. Lucy guessed the former, and was proved right as she entered the village's one and only restaurant with Erza and Gray to see Natsu and Happy stuffing their faces with assorted breakfast foods. SHe groaned quietly and walked over to the counter to order the rest of the team's breakfast while Natsu and Happy gorged themselves.

Later, after Natsu and Happy had eaten their fill, the team set off for the Town Hall where the job note said applicants must go before beginning. As they arrived, a short, squat man with a dodgy moustache ran out of the building, making a strange noise:

"Boyoyoyoyoyoyo!" (yes, I know this is Duke Everlue. I'm using him because his catchphrase boyoyoyo makes me laugh. also, in this story, he's nice. still dodgy though. )

"Boyoyo. Are you the Fairy Tail mages who have come to rid us of this dragon? Boyoyoyo…" he said again.

"Um…" said Gray

"Yes, we are." said Erza in a calm voice while Natsu and Lucy could only stare.

"Oh, boyoyoyo! Good! We need to get rid of him; so far he has burnt down about 15 houses and our public library! Boyoyoyo…" he said sadly and his eyes glazed over as he stared off into the middle distance, probably reminiscing about the library.

"Yes, we'll help!" said Natsu, "Let's go!" Erza nodded curtly and they sprinted off in the direction the distraught Mayor pointed. As they ran, Natsu sped ahead of the rest with tiny little flames on his feet to speed him up, while Erza was in her recently ex-quipped Speed Armour, running fast and Gray was sliding along on a self-created ice slide. Lucy began falling behind, and just as she began to loose sight of them, she was picked up from behind by Happy, the fast flying cat!

"Oh! Thanks Happy!" she called as they caught up with the others.

"Aye!" said Happy in his usual cheerful manner as they sped up.

A little while after that, they arrived at the cave on top of the mountain where the mayor had said Igneel was. However, there were no signs of him outside the cave, so Natsu (being Natsu) walked right up to the cavernous entrance and yelled.

"HEY IGNEEL! WHERE ARE YOU? IT'S ME, NATSUUUUU!" he blasted his voice into the cave. Lucy could hear his deafening voice echo around the cave, bouncing off the walls. After his echo could be heard no more, a deep rumbling emanated from the depths of the cave, and sounded as if it was getting closer. Everybody backed away except Natsu, who went closer and shouted again.

"IGNEEEEEEL!" The rumbling, no, roaring noise got closer and closer until the group could see an orange glow illuminating the tunnel. Natsu rubbed his hands together in anticipation of possibly seeing Igneel again. The glow came closer and closer, until the entire group of Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray and Happy could see where it was coming from…

And it wasn't pretty.


	4. Chapter 4

Authors Note:

NEW UPDATE

WOW. 77 views and 2 reviews! I was NOT excepting that. Yay! People like my stuff! Let's get on with it then, I know some people are dying from the suspense… *puts writing hat on*

Lucy screamed deafeningly as the gargantuan fiery dragon stepped out of the cave. Natsu seemed puzzled, he stepped forwards slightly and called up to the dragon.

"HEY IGNEEL! IT'S ME! NATSU! NATSU? YOUR ADOPTED SON WHO YOU DESERTED AND LEFT FOR DEAD?"

Igneel's massive head slowly turned downwards to look at Natsu. Once Natsu got up close to the massive creature, he realised something wasn't quite right.. He looked deep into the dragon's eye and saw an evil-looking circle of red. (a bit like the eye of sauron) Natsu shuddered from the evil scent he suddenly noticed rolling off the supposed Igneel.

"I… AM… IGNEEL!" it roared as it spotted the team, "AND… I… WILL… DESTROY… YOU… ALL!" Erza sensed a fight coming on, and quickly changed into her Flame Empress Armour to fend off any of Igneel's fire-based attacks. Gray stripped to his underwear and Lucy whipped out her keys, seeing Erza's lighting quick change to her new armour. Igneel roared again and charged at the group, taking them all except Erza by surprise.

"Natsu!" called Erza, "Eat some of Igneel's fire!" The fire mage nodded and attempted to swallow some of the fire dragon's seemingly never-ending fire. And failed.

"ERZA! I can't eat this fire!" he shrieked as he tried again, "It's MY fire! Igneel taught me my powers, so he has the same fire as me, and I can't eat my own fire! I'M POWERLESS AGAINST HIM!" Igneel chose this moment to squash Natsu underneath his foot.

A moment later, however, Natsu could be seen under his foot straining to lift it up. Lucy snapped out of the way she had been for about 3 minutes now, just staring at Igneel, and noticed a small river next to the cave. _Aquarius_! she thought as she ran over.

"OPEN THE GATE TO THE WATER BEARER, AQUARIUS!" she yelled as she dipped the key in the water and turned it, breaking open the portal between Fiore and the Celestial Realm. Lucy heard the watery sound of Aquarius bursting up through the river and glared angrily at Lucy.

"What do you want me for this time?!" she shouted furiously, "You just pulled me out of a date with…" Aquarius turned round to look at the commotion behind her, and saw Erza, Gray and Natsu furiously fighting Igneel while Happy was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh." she mumbled while Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"Just attack." said Lucy. Aquarius nodded begrudgingly and conjured up a massive whirlpool of water and hurled it at the fiery beast, extinguishing a fair few of it's flames. However, they just sprang straight back to life and Aquarius' water evaporated pretty much straight after it touched him. Erza kept slashing at the dragon, screaming spells as she did, while Gray shot ice-make after ice-make at it's face, trying to get some in it's mouth to extinguish the fire. Natsu was still trapped under Igneel's foot, trying to keep it from squashing him completely.

Lucy screamed and sent Aquarius back to the Celestial Realm, while bringing Loki (Leo the Lion) and Capricorn out instead.

"OPEN THE GATES OF CAPRICORN THE GOAT AND LEO THE LION!" Lucy yelled and turned the two keys in the air, summoning the two spirits to her side.

"Leo, Capricorn, I need you to beat the sense out of that dragon, while I attack with my Fleuve D'Etoiles whip. Okay?" she said as they appeared.

"Anything for my princess," said Loki who charged at Igneel, building up his power.

"Of course." replied Capricorn and ran at the beast, ready to give it the beating it needed. Lucy quickly psyched herself up and ran at the dragon with her magic whip, screaming:

"LUCY KIIIIIIIICK!"


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note:

Hi, so I didn't post last night… Forrest Gump sorta happened so I got distracted and now I've decided saturday is my day off. Here we go!

Lucy's seemingly tiny foot (compared to Igneel) connected with his side with a resounding clang. She dropped to the floor and clutched her foot; Lucy had hit Igneel's steely scales with her full force and it hadn't made any difference. (except from her gaining a twisted ankle) Infuriated, Lucy limp-charged again while Erza, Gray, Natsu, Capricorn and Loki hit Igneel with full-force attacks. She reached Igneel's left flank and began whipping him with her Fleuve D'Etoiles whip however this just seemed to annoy Igneel further as the mighty fire dragon who had previously just been propelling fire in all directions, lifted his gargantuan tail and swung it round, knocking the entire team off the mountain and successfully sending Loki and Capricorn back to the Celestial Realm.

"NO!" shrieked Lucy and Natsu as one (but for different reasons) as they fell back down, down, down towards Tarranth. Erza, Gray, Natsu and Lucy spun around in the air, only to see the ground rushing up to them and -

CRUNCH.

3 days later, the team woke up in Tarranth Hospital.

"Where am I?" said Lucy dazedly looking around.

"You're in Tarranth Hospital and you're damned lucky to even be alive!" said an angry voice. Erza, Lucy, Natsu and Gray turned their heads to see Master Makarov and the rest of Fairy Tail gathered around their hospital beds. Mirajane was in floods of tears, with Elfman and Lisanna standing next to her to comfort the usually cheerful girl, Elfman muttering the occasional "Man…". Juvia was bent over Gray's bed, murmuring in his ear, while Levy was next to Lucy, tearing up and crying.

"Guys, it's okay. We're alive!" said Natsu reassuringly.

"Well you wouldn't be if Wendy and Charle hadn't been passing through and seen you four crumpled at the base of the mountain! Thanks to her emergency healing, you will be fine. JUST DON'T DO IT AGAIN OKAY?" Makarov finished before he stormed out, muttering"Damn kids… No sense of responsibility… Had me worried sick…" just loud enough for them to hear. After he left, the whole of Fairy Tail clustered around the 4 beds, with Erza assuring them that her physical condition was fine, Lucy taking advantage of the situation and milking the attention, Gray just lay there, staring off into space while Juvia lathered him in loving care and Natsu was back in shock, thinking about how his dad was evil as it all came back to him. All the commotion gave Happy the chance to sneak out and find some fish. He stealthily flew out of the window and began the hunt for some fish. Halfway to the market, Happy smelled some gorgeously cooked fish and as if under a spell, flew towards where it was coming from. Happy flew sideways through a window and saw a steaming plate of fish right in front of him.

"Mmmmm…" said Happy as he switched into eating mode and crawled towards the food. The plate moved backwards a little, but Happy didn't seem to notice as he kept going after it through a small hole in the wall to a dark room. He slowly crept towards the plate of fish which now lay at a mysterious man's feet, who made a strange noise…

"Boyoyoyoyoyoyo…"

(I TOLD YOU HE WAS STILL DODGY!)


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note:

168 views! I think I should begin writing before I get too overexcited. GO GO GO!

Happy slowly looked up and saw the fat face and dodgy moustache of the mayor. (DODGY)

"Boyoyoyoyo… You've walked right into my trap, little cat!" he said evilly. Happy looked at his eyes - they were glowing bright red! He gulped and backed away; Happy had a suspicion something was wrong before and now he was certain.

"You must become my sacrifice, little cat, so that I can keep controlling the dragon Igneel! Boyoyoyoyo!" he chuckled scarily. Quick as lightning, the mayor dropped into the floor and came up directly under Happy and grabbed him.

"KYAH!" shrieked Happy as he was pulled down the tunnel the man had made.

The pair whooshed down the earthy tunnel, deep into the ground and dropped out onto the floor, and all the while the man was making his creepy little noise:

"Boyoyoyoyo!" Happy shivered and clutched his arms to himself. Suddenly, they dropped out of the tunnel onto a hard stone floor.

"Ow." moaned Happy as he rolled onto the ground. The evil mayor picked him up and placed him on a table, where he bound him with chains.

"Magic-proof." he muttered. Happy looked down and saw the Mayor sharpening a knife. Happy screamed loudly and wriggled uncomfortably in his chains.

"Boyoyoyo… I must sacrifice you for my power over the dragon to continue! First, I will extract all your magic with my magic extractor knife (couldn't think of a name) and then I will use my Soul Magic to suck out your soul to make me even more powerful - BOYOYOYO!" he cackled evilly.

"Oh, no…" said Happy.

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Natsu realised that Happy was gone.

"HAPPY!" he gasped, sitting up ramrod straight and knocking lots of members of Fairy Tail off his bed.

"I've got to go look for him!" Natsu said, leaping out of his bed and jumping out of the window before anyone could stop him, feverishly sniffing the air. He crawled out onto the rooftop and crept across the roof tiles, following Happy's smell. Soon, he discovered that Happy's scent went out across the buildings and the roads - of course, Happy was flying - so he used his Fire Dragon's wings and glided, once again following Happy's trail. Once he reached the open window, Natsu sniffed again and smelled Happy's scent very strongly, mixed with the smell of fish.

"Happy was definitely here." He smiled to himself. Natsu tiptoed through the window and discovered the hole in the wall where Happy had gone through. It was just large enough for Natsu to squeeze through, so he did and his momentum from pushing himself through the hole propelled him straight into the tunnel that the evil mayor had made previously.

"AGH!" he yelled as he fell through.

A minute later, Natsu hit the floor with a sickening crack.

"Ow… That'll hurt later…" he muttered as he stood up and turned to face -

"Natsu?"

Author's Note II:

Sorry for the short chapter, I will try and post again later tonight. :)


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note:

I told you I'd post again later! Okay, a lot later… (eeeee! 205 views!) On with it!

"Happy?" called Natsu uncertainly as he peered over to the table where Happy was chained down, "Happy! What are you doing chained down - " Suddenly, Natsu was grabbed from behind as the evil mayor tunnelled up from deep underground.

"Got you! Boyoyoyo," he said, cackling manically, "Now I will have even more power once I take your soul to control Igneel!" He laughed crazily, eyes glowing, and was so caught up in himself that he did not notice Natsu starting to emanate a fiery glow as he got angrier and angrier. The mayor spun around to face Natsu.

"Boyoyoyo! Now, for you… Wait - what are you doing…?" The mayor faded off as he saw Natsu's terrifyingly angry face and the fiery aura building up around him.

"WHAT. DID. YOU. SAY?" Natsu growled scarily, curling his hands into fists, getting ready to fight.

The mayor realised he was in trouble. He tried to dive underground, but before he could, Natsu was in front of him, landing blow after fiery blow on the man's body. Suddenly, as he was being thoroughly pummelled, something dawned on the despicable mayor's face and his eyes began to glow. In a massive, snarling, echoey voice, he screamed:

"IGNEEL! I WANT YOU HERE NOW." Natsu swore he could hear Igneel's roar echoing through the air afterwards. He and the mayor continued grappling, but a minute later, an almighty crash could be heard above them and Igneel the Dragon burst through the ceiling. He let out a terrifying roar and expelled flames from his fiery lungs. The mayor's eyes started glowing again and the dragon suddenly turned one side of his head down towards the mayor, as if he were listening to him even though he wasn't speaking. The despicable man stared intently at Igneel as if trying to communicate through the power of his mind. Natsu let go of the mayor and backed away as the dragon swung it's ginormous head round to face him.

"Uh, easy Igneel, don't you recognize me?" he called uncertainly. He stared deep into Igneel's coppery orange eyes, trying to search for even a flicker of recognition. He found none. Baring his teeth, the dragon turned his whole body round to face him in a jerky manner, as if he were a puppet being controlled… By the mayor! A plan quickly formulated in Natsu's head. If he could distract the mayor, that could take his focus off Igneel and then the dragon would be free from his control. Natsu signalled Happy about his plan and the blue cat nodded. A second later, the cat let out an ear-splitting shriek, causing the mayor to drop to the floor, clutching his ears. He groaned, rolling around on the floor while Natsu stood perfectly still, having just put two barriers made out of fire around his ears. He was deaf to the world. Grinning manically, he shouted to Happy.

"Break the chains now! Use a rock because they are magic-proof!" Happy reached his little paw over to a sizeable rock lying next to him and smashed his restraints. Immediately, he got his flying magic back and he flew over to the cowering mayor who was still curled in a ball with his hands over his ears. Happy began hitting his head, whacking him with whatever he could find where ever he could get to. Natsu smiled proudly then turned back to Igneel.

"COME ON THEN IGNEEL!" he shouted over the dragon's roaring, "FIGHT ME!"


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note:

Active again!

Natsu built up his power in his hands; he was ready to fight. He looked up at Igneel, and saw the evil red circles in his eyes start to glow. _How is the mayor still controlling Igneel? _thought Natsu as he prepared to attack.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" he yelled, flames streaming off his hands and hitting the dragon as he sprinted forwards. Natsu climbed up Igneel's long front leg, he had just planted his left front leg exactly where Natsu had just been. It was a lucky escape. Natsu reached Igneel's head and began battering it with more fire dragon's wing attacks and fire dragon's iron fists. As he hit the dragon's mighty skull, chaos broke out back at the hospital.

Lucy had been throwing a fit for the past half an hour while the members of Fairy Tail pinned her down.

"But Natsu's been gone for ages now," she wailed, pounding Elfman's chest to no effect as he held her down, "I'm worried! What if Igneel's found him? What if he's lying in a ditch somewhere unconscious…?" she trailed off as she saw the terrifyingly annoyed look on Erza's face.

"Hm, I must say he has been gone for a worrying amount of time now." Master Makarov admitted, walking back into the hospital ward. "Maybe we should send out some people to look for him and Happy?" interjected Mirajane helpfully. Makarov stroked his chin thoughtfully and nodded.

"Yes. Mirajane! Will you and Erza go out to look for them? Erza seems to be better now." said Makarov, peering over at the armoured mage. Erza nodded firmly and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, confirming Mirajane and Makarov's thoughts. She and Mirajane rushed out of the ward to search for Natsu, while Lucy was still milking the attention and Gray was tolerating Juvia's fawning over him.

A few minutes later, Erza and Mirajane came within sight of the crushed building where Igneel had dropped through the roof. Erza quickly ex-quipped into her Flame Empress Armour and dropped into the gigantic crater in the ground, from which Natsu and Igneel could be heard fighting. Mirajane didn't immediately use her Satan Soul Takeover as it used up a lot of her magical power, so she swiftly jumped the hole after Erza. As she landed, Mirajane looked up and saw Natsu and Igneel furiously battling while Happy continued to try and distract the mayor, but with no effect. Mirajane began to get angry, she saw Erza charge at the pair and so Mirajane transformed into her Satan Soul Takeover. Hair flying upwards and demonic wings flapping, Mirajane flew towards the dragon and the fire mage locked in combat and launched a punch at the dragon which slammed it against the wall with an almighty crunch. Natsu, who had not noticed them up until now, yelled.

"HEY! THIS IS MY FIGHT! HE'S MY DAD!"

"Natsu, we know," replied Erza in a calm voice which did not match up with her furious slashing of Igneel, "We just thought you may need some help and by the looks of it, you do. Now, why don't you help Happy distract the mayor because then this would be a heck of a lot easier!"

"Aye!" replied Natsu timidly as he recognised the angry undercurrent in Erza's voice. He sprinted over to where Happy was now lying unconscious after taking a blow to the head, courtesy of the mayor and a boulder. Natsu was enraged, he looked over to where the mayor was just picking himself up, and before the mayor was fully up, Natsu roared deafeningly, sending fire out of his mouth to hit the mayor full in the face.

"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" The mayor was blown over backwards, hitting the ground hard. Natsu ran over to him, about to launch another attack, when he noticed that the despicable man was out cold.

"Hey you guys!" Erza and Mirajane looked up from battling Igneel.

"He's out cold! Stop attacking Igneel, he's stopped hitting back!" The two women looked over and sure enough, the giant dragon was slumped on the floor asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note:

320 views!

The trio of Natsu, Erza and Mirajane (who had since transformed out of her Satan Soul Takeover) walked over to the collapsed body of Igneel who lay unconscious on the floor. Natsu came within a meter of the dragons's body before stopping and turning round to face Erza and Mirajane.

"Do you… do you think he's okay?" Natsu asked, sounding uncertain of himself for the first time in his life.

"Don't worry Natsu, Igneel should be fine. Dragons are very tough, remember? He's only passed out because of the exertion of being possessed by that despicable mayor. Speaking of the mayor, what did you do to him?" said Erza, looking over Natsu's shoulder. Natsu grinned and ran over to where the mayor's scorched body was lying crumpled on the floor.

"NATSU! You better hadn't have killed him," growled Erza, cracking her knuckles, "That would spoil the name of Fairy Tail you know, and there's nothing I hate more than that…" Natsu squealed scaredly.

"I'll check," said Mirajane, walking up to the mayor and pressing her ear to his chest.

"Well?" asked Erza. Mirajane confirmed that he was still alive, but in a coma. Natsu punched the air as he realised that Erza wouldn't kill him today. As he turned away from the mayor, Natsu heard the sound of many pairs of feet hitting the floor as the entire guild of Fairy Tail dropped into the gigantic crater. Natsu waved in greeting and beckoned Lucy who was being carried by Loki over to him.

She looked up slowly from her position in Loki's arms and saw the ginormous dragon flat out on the floor, no traces of evilness anywhere near him. Lucy grinned wildly at Natsu who returned the wide smile and scooped the injured celestial mage out of Loki's arms to hold her in his as he sat down next to Igneel, waiting for him to wake up. As Lucy lay there in Natsu's arms, they caught up on everything which had happened in the past 2 hours, such as the battle with Igneel, what had happened at the hospital after Erza and Mirajane left… The two friends quite happily sat there for another half an hour with each other for company until Lucy heard a faint rumbling noise.

"Hey, Natsu." she said, peering up at him.

"Yeah, Lucy?" he replied, looking down at her happily.

"Did you hear that noise?" Natsu snapped his head up and stared at the dragon, listening hard.

RUMBLE.

"There it is again!" cried Lucy as Natsu's eyebrows rose. He promptly stood up, dropping her in the process. Thankfully, Loki was on standby just in case, so he caught her and she didn't get any more injuries.

By now, Natsu was right by Igneel's head, trying to pry his scaly eyelids open as Igneel made rumbling noise again.

"C'mon, dad, wake up!" he muttered as the thunderous noise echoed through the cavern, loud enough to make the guild turn and look. As Natsu put his head closer and closer to Igneel's face, the dragon's massive coppery gold eyes opened.

"Natsu?" he asked in a deep, rumbling voice.

"Dad?"


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note:

Ahhhh! Natsu's found his dad! Must finish writing!

Natsu stood stock-still as Igneel the fire dragon reached out a giant scaly red paw out to him.

"Dad…" he said, quietly.

"Natsu… My son…" replied Igneel in his deep, rumbling voice. All of time and space seemed to freeze in that one, lovely moment as father and son were reunited for the first time in 10 years. Natsu pressed himself into Igneel's warm, scaled neck as the dragon wrapped his clawed paw around him in a massive hug. The guild of Fairy Tail let out a collective sigh at this adorable (yet somewhat strange) scene happening before them. Natsu and Igneel closed their eyes in bliss as they slumped against the wall together, exhilarated but exhausted at the same time. A few minutes later, Natsu's classic snore could be heard, on top of which Igneel's deafening roar of a snore echoed around the cavern. Lucy jumped as a blast of hot air shot from Igneel's nose hit her full in the face as she sat in front of the happily unconscious pair. Loki picked her up again and carried her over to the rest of the guild before Igneel accidentally breathed fire on her and burnt her to a crisp.

Later, after Natsu and Igneel had woken up, Fairy Tail all travelled back to the guild building in Magnolia. Needless to say, it had caused a bit of a stir when the guild arrived back with a gigantic fiery dragon stomping behind them.

"Am I causing a bit of a ruckus down there?" asked Igneel concernedly while Magnolia townspeople ran away screaming beneath his feet.

"It's fine! Keep going, our guild building is just down here!" called Natsu from his perch on one of Igneel's horns. Igneel bared his teeth in a grin, which terrified the citizens of Magnolia even more.

"Natsu," Erza yelled, "I've just thought - where is Igneel going to live now that he's with us?" This shocked Natsu; he hadn't thought beyond the fact that his dad was back, life was good, rainbows and sunshine - so this was quite the revelation. It sent him into deep thought, they definitely couldn't keep him at Natsu's house (tiny), they couldn't keep him at the Fairy Tail guild building (still too small), and the Magnolia council certainly wouldn't let them put Igneel in the community park! Suddenly, an idea hit Lucy like a lightning bolt.

"Hey guys!" she cried, "I have an idea! We could house Igneel on the mountain next to the city! You know, Wildgrass Mountain?" (made up place, not actually in Fairy Tail) Natsu's face lit up as he realised that the wild, rocky mountain was the perfect place for a fire dragon to take up residence.

"What is this 'Wildgrass Mountain' you speak of?" questioned Igneel curiously. Natsu grinned and explained to Igneel all about Wildgrass Mountain as they walked.

Wildgrass Mountain was a gigantic, plant and rock covered mountain. Red and yellow rocks were scattered across the surface, interspersed by clumps of trees and flowers. After the guild arrived back, Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray and Igneel immediately set off for Igneel's potential new home. They were all sat on Igneel's back while he flew directly towards the mountain. It glistened in the late afternoon sunlight as the team flew over the rocky outcrop on the mountain. They landed with a thump on the hard rock of the surface and the mages climbed off.

"Ah…" said Igneel, "This looks perfect." Natsu smiled his mile wide smile and dragged Igneel away towards a certain cave he had in mind...


	11. Chapter 11

Authors note:

I haven't been very active over the last two days, but I have a good reason - headaches! (Joy.)

Natsu raced into the cave ahead of Igneel, who came thundering in a few minutes later with Lucy, Erza and a very reluctant Gray. The cave was large, but the warm, orange-red colour of the rock gave it a bit of a cosy and warm feel. Igneel growled happily and curled up in a corner by a small dead bush which he immediately lit on fire. The cave warmed up and the small group huddled round it; the sun had just begun to set and the temperature was swiftly dropping. Just then, Happy flew into the cave with a loud "Aye!" and settled on Natsu's shoulder as he sat next to Lucy and Igneel around the fire. The atmosphere was cheerful, the team of mages and Igneel caught up on what had happened in the last 10 years while tucking into meat, fish and various other tasty things…

Igneel's POV: (10 years ago)

"Bye Natsu! Have a good time hunting for berries!" I call as he runs into the forest, waving over his shoulder. I grin and lay my head down, ready to have a nap while my adopted son hunts for a snack. Closing my eyes, I listen to the soft sound of grass waving as the wind rushes through the meadow I am laid down in. I begin to drift off to sleep when I hear a curious noise.

"Boyoyoyoyo…" I slightly crack open one of my coppery eyes and look around. On the other side of the meadow stands a strange-looking man. He is short, fat, and has a REALLY dodgy moustache. I raise a scaly eyebrow and lift my head to look at him properly. The squat little man ambles over to me confidently, smiling a very creepy smile.

"Hello there dragon!" he calls up to me. I look down at him, and he looks up at me - then his eyes start glowing crimson. I do a double take and try to back away, but his eyes have me paralysed. I try to move my legs, I try to roar and breathe fire at this sinister little man, but I can't! His eyes seem to be getting bigger, it feels like I am being sucked down into them. I can't see or feel anything but the red and the immensely massive pain which is taking over my body. My mind screams as his evil presence takes over and all I can see all I can feel -

Boyoyoyoyoyoyo…

Back to the present:

"Oh Igneel, that's awful, how could he put you through that?!" cried Lucy as Igneel finished his story. A circle of horrified faces surrounded the warm, crackling fire while some meat roasted next to them. Natsu was shocked, he had no idea that this had happened to his adoptive father. He swiftly climbed up onto Igneel's back and grafted himself to Igneel's spine with a gigantic, comforting hug.

"Hey, Natsu." said Erza, peering up at him.

"Yeah?" replied Natsu muffled by the dragons scales he had pressed into his face.

"What happened to you while all that was happening?" Erza asked.

"Nah, you don't need to know, nothing happened really."

"Come on!" begged Lucy.

"Yeah, firecracker, you may as well tell us now that we know Igneel's side of the story." said Gray disinterestedly, but inside he was desperate to know.

"Alright then," said Natsu, grinning, "It all started as I left Igneel to go into the forest…"


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note:

I hope you like my 'POV' sections!

Natsu's POV:

"YEAH! BERRY HUNT!" I shriek as I run into the forest after saying goodbye to Igneel. My keen eyes scour the forest floor in my hunt for berries as I sprint through the well-travelled woods. Birds tweet from the lofty branches of the trees and grass on the ground rustles underneath my feet as they pound the narrow path. Suddenly, a brightly coloured bush at the side of the path catches my eye. Berries! I run towards the bush and discover it is covered in my favourite berries - Firefruit Berries! I cry out gleefully and grab all the berries from the bush to shove them into my sack, eating a few along the way. Once the bush is cleared, I slip away to discover more berries. As I begin to run again, I hear a terrible noise - Igneel's roar! I know something's wrong, that roar isn't his usual roar. That was a roar of pure terror! I shriek and sprint back out of the forest, only to see Igneel flying away, over a mountain in the distance with a creepy looking guy riding on his back. Igneel's eyes are glowing crazily, just like the man's eyes on his back who has just turned round, screaming evilly:

"Boyoyoyoyoyo!"

Back to the present:

Everyone around the small fire grimaced in the semi-darkness.

"Oh… Son, I had no idea. From the moment that man took over my mind to the moment you released me back at Tarranth I cannot remember anything!" growled Igneel in his low, rumbling voice. Lucy sat in awe of this incredible pair; the father kept away from his son for most of his life, and the son who had never given up on his father. Such incredible love astounded Lucy, she had never experienced such a thing. Her father had never given Lucy any love, he had always just locked himself in his office and left Lucy alone to be accompanied by the mansion's many maids and servants.

"Guys… I don't know how to say this," Lucy began, "But you two are so inspiring. I lived most of my childhood loveless after my mother died when I was 6. The love that you have for each other is amazing - not many families are bonded like this. I honestly don't know how you do this…" Her voice trailed off as she became overcome by emotion. Natsu rolled his eyes and dropped to the floor to give Lucy a massive hug.

"Lucy, I have no idea what you just said, but judging by the happy looks on Gray, Erza and Happy's faces - I'm guessing it was awesome." he said, grinning widely. Suddenly, Igneel swept his tail around the whole group and pulled them in for a bear-hug - actually, no, a DRAGON-HUG!

Author's Note II:

Well, that's it! What did you think? Alright? I think I'll be writing more soon, possibly a Harry Potter fic, or maybe a Hunger Games one… See ya soon!


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